Fire Under Water
by herongraystairs
Summary: Jem and Tessa have a shower together. Let's just say that the water isn't the only thing providing steam.


The water pounded against his skin like sticks beating on drums, the feeling of soft thudding was calming, relaxing. The sounds of water on the tile were loud but somehow they didn't seem to differ his state of mind. Everybody needed calm, Jem more than most considering the past year he had had. The turning from a Silent Brother, the founding of this new and ever so different world and his meeting with Tessa.

At the thought of Tessa, he smiled, allowing the water running in droplets from his hair and down his face, past his open lips. Even after all these years the mere comprehensible idea of her made him joyous. The fact that they were finally together again, even more so. Currently they had been travelling across the world, her showing him all it had to offer. And yet while he was still rediscovering the world, Jem found him and Tessa had also been rediscovering each other.

He had found out trivial things like the style of music she listened to, her sense of clothing (without all those extra layers it was interesting to see how style could change), her opinions on the book to movie adaptations that she had urged him to watch. In turn she watched him find his opinions on trivial matters by himself. They found out their favourite locations enjoyed together and they found out each others reasons to smile.

They had rediscovered other things too, like the ways to make Tessas pink lips jerk open in a gasp, and the ways to make Jem's breathing go quicker and how his eyelids could flutter shut.

And with these thoughts in mind, the blood that had been flowing through his veins rushed downwards as he let out a small groan. _Really_? His emotions tried to get the better of him more often than he had the patience for. He ignored his situation as he reached for the soap and tried to focus on lathering the bar upon his shoulders. It smelt of lavender. Which truly didn't help his situation.

There wasn't truly a reason he couldn't release himself, but Tessa was currently in the kitchen and he knew he would be embarrassed if she somehow heard. He knew she wouldn't think ill of it, but he hadn't had time to get used to the acceptances of this modern era, even if 8 months seemed like long enough.

For the next few minutes he focused on other things. Like the feel of the hot water on his back. It was strange how something as simple as the pounding drops of liquid upon his body could make the muscles unfurl and relax. He wished the invention of showers had been made in his time. It would have made bathing that much more enjoyable.

He was simply content, listening to the sounds of the shower, and although he was not a Shadowhunter, there were things he retained. Like his sense of sound. And somehow over the water thumping on the tiles, he heard something drop softly onto the floor behind him.

Dismissing it as simply a towel off the rack he went on with his job of cleansing himself until he hear a voice clear itself.

Jem turned to see a sight that in a million years over he still wouldn't feel grateful enough to have witnessed. After seeing Tessas body naked many times, each felt like the first.

She was standing, back straight and head forward, grey eyes wide open. The light from the frosted glass windows hit her as if it was a heavenly glow, highlighting her cheekbones and the tips of her ample breasts. He swallowed audibly and faintly he could hear the soap drop onto the tiles from his limp hand.

"T-Tessa?" Eyes widened as his heart beat quickened and pumped perhaps even louder than the sounds of the water pounding upon the tiles, and he wondered how Tessa wasn't covering her ears. "What are you- what are you doing?" He spoke the words with a shocked uncertainty. They weren't defensive or angry (if such a thing could be uttered through his throat) but he saw furrow her brow as if reconsidering her choice to enter naked.

"Do you not recall the conversation we had yesterday?" Tessa inquired, tilting her head so that the dark brown undone strands of her hair brushed against her pale skin in a stark contrast that had his eyesight struggling to make out the details. "I was under the impression we had to be saving water, if that is not too much of a problem with you?"

Feeling like an utter cad, Jem tried to keep his eyes solely above Tessa's neck. In doing so he saw her grey eyes shining expectantly at him. Regaining himself he nodded quickly, effectively shaking water from his hair out and around him. "No problem at all. None. Absolutely no complaints whatsoever-"

And her finger was on his lips. "I get the idea." she said, giggling softly, winking at him and letting her hand drop. All Jem could do was step out of her way as she stepped into the shower under the spray of water. The shower in their rented apartment was large, a comfortable distance was between the two as Tessa's body started to get accustomed to the change in environment. But Jem thought it anything but comfortable.

He wanted to be with her, under the spray of water, feeling her body against his. He wanted to hear her moans under the water. He wanted to feel her hands makes a slippery trail down his body to touch him as if there was no tomorrow.

He leaned against the cool solid glass as he watched her under the nozzle. Her eyes were closed and water was dripping from her eyelashes as if they were an umbrella. Her plump pink lips were closed, pursed as if she was contemplating something. The driplets raced down her long neck and he had a thought that her breasts shining with the water was one of the most provocative sights he had ever seen. Jem let out a shaky sigh and alerted by it, Tessa opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?" It was coy, the way she said it, her eyes glinting mischievously. But if anything it seemed a bit forced. As if she wanted to show concern but had decided against it.

"Just fine."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Tessa stepped out of the water and picked her shampoo from the indented shelf. She poured the liquid into her hands and started rubbing it into her hair. Long brown wavy strands turned bubbly under the constant ministrations of her moving hands. Jem looked down. Perhaps he shouldn't have been staring.

The thing that was so tempting however, was because Tessa wouldn't mind if he stared. He knew her so closely that even if he did, she wouldn't blink an eye and instead give him a smile. And that smile looked so gorgeous on her it was almost intoxicating. But his habit of trying to be respectable had been the hardest one to be unlearned. Not to mention now more than ever, she seemed to be tempting him on purpose.

Raising his eyes slightly, they travelled up her long, long legs. When they were in the Victorian era, Jem had never thought much about Tessa's height. But if he knew that this was the cause of it, he knew were most of his thoughts would have headed.

Feeling unbearably heated he raised his eyes to Tessa's face again, feeling all the pent up emotions of sexual longing fly out of his face at the pure unadulterated look that Tessa was displaying on her face. Completely the opposite to the ones she had shown almost moments before. Some of the froth of the shampoo must have fallen from her head because she was currently sporting a very bubbly nose. Her face was scrunched up with the most endearing look of frustration.

He chuckled, making the expression fall off her face. "What?" She asked somewhat defensively. He stopped chuckling and let out a sigh of contentment and this time his smile didn't fade.

"Youre adorable." He said simply, watching one of her eyebrows raise.

Grey eyes blinked and arms crossed. "No I'm not. I'm not adorable." She looked on guard and somewhat shocked by his statement, but one could only seem those things if they had no bubbles upon them.

He tilted his head, letting the water drying on his head, drop off to his right shoulder. "There is still shampoo on your nose."

Tessa's hands reached at a speed like lightning to her nose to wipe it off. "I'm not supposed to be adorable" she muttered as if she were a child, frowning.

This show of stubbornness made Jem step closer to her as if by reflex. "What are you supposed to be, then?" he asked softly.

"Seductive."

"_What?_"

"That's why I came here. I was going to seduce you, but I obviously can't be seductive if I'm adorable." She told him as if what she was saying was as simple as explaining what paper cranes were.

Jem blinked, still shocked at her earlier confession. "Who said you can't be adorable and seductive at the same time?"

Tessa let out a breath and stepped under the spray of water, effectively getting rid of the shampoo in her hair while she ran her fingers through the strands. "Magnus did. _Well_, he said that the only exception was Alec, and I left the room after that because I didn't want to be stuck in one of _those_ conversations again."

"And you thought being seductive was the only way I'd think to make love to you?" He asked the question, feeling shame place itself upon him. He felt guilty. He knew that he hadn't exactly initiated the majority of the circumstances where they had had sexual intercourse. That hadn't meant that he felt that was the only way for it to begin. That didn't mean that he hated the idea of starting things himself, he was simply too accostomed to Victorian conceptions of physical romance between those who were unwed. Jem suddenly felt bad- wasn't _that_ what the traditional role was for a male, anyway? To show interest first? And even though he knew Tessa thought little for all the sexist idealists of men and woman from years passed, he knew that there still should have probably been more equality in their sexual relationship. Of course he always caught up eventually, making her feel just as great as she made him feel. But all the same…

"No, I just… " she sounded defeated. "Sorry."

Feeling a sweep of confidence place itself on him, he stepped close to Tessa so he was almost under the spray of water. "You don't have to say you're sorry. If anything it should be, I-"

"No!" She argued, "Jem, I shouldn't have assumed I knew what you would like and not, and I probably shouldn't have listened to Magnus. It's just, I don't want you to feel like I'm holding back on you in that area or like you can't-"

With Tessa's mouth moving furiously against nothing but air, Jem felt the need to compensate. Perhaps it was forward, or rude to interrupt in such a way, but feeling how Tessa's form almost sagged under his moving lips, he knew she didn't mind. After a few seconds filled with nothing but kissing, he murmured against her lips.

"Tessa?" the sound came out muffled.

"Mmmm?" was her only reply, with eyes still closed.

He broke away, ignoring the sense of loss that came with the warmth leaving his mouth in turn for falling water dripping past his cheekbones. "Never feel the need to act like anything besides yourself if you feel the want for us to bed each other. Or if you want me to bed you." He told her earnestly.

"We aren't in a bed."

Before he could even let out a snort, she initiated the kiss. Harder, more urgently and Jem couldn't help but comply just as enthusiastically. Her hands ran over his bare chest under the water and they moved quickly along the slick skin. His own hands found their way into her hair, massaging her scalp and feeling her moan against his lips.

That sound alone could drive him to ecstasy. The feel of them kissing along with her palms against his chest and the hot water making everything that much more intense he _almost_ let out the energy holding him up.

Instead, he opted to kiss Tessa, once again, his tongue sliding against her's like hands trying to warm themselves ina long winter. His mouth somehow parted with hers and made its way away from her lips and down her mouth to her jaw and down the slope of her neck.

Taking heed of her shaky breaths, the arms that had slid to her shoulder, dropped down to clutch on her waist and holding her steady. His mouth moved to rest upon her left nipple while his right hand raised to give attention to her other breast.

He knew by her wanton moans of pleasure that this was the right choice, his movements against her, were squeezing and probing her in seemingly all the right ways, but all of the sudden he was being brought back up for his lips to meet hers once again. He was surprised by the change in position but didn't argue especially when her hand slipped lower than could possibly be considered proper.

When her delicate fingers clasped around his long since awakened manhood, it took everything he had not to collapse right then and there. It was like pins and needles up his whole body but not in the way he felt there were sharp pains, more like his nerves were wildly spinning out of control and his groan thrummed through his throat like a phone set upon vibrate.

Tessa continued her stroking movements against his erection and he felt as if his entire being was coming undone like a ball of string and it took everything he could to break away from the kiss and let his hand pull her own off the very instrument that was giving him undeniable amounts of ecstasy.

"Tessa," he gasped out, feeling water run into his mouth. "You- you need to stop right now."

She sounded genuinely concerned. "Are you hurt?" If he wasn't so aroused he'd have chuckled at her audacity to be innocent after all that they were just doing, and what she was _still_ doing.

"No, my love, the opposite." And with that his hands went down to her buttocks, gripping them tightly as he brought her backward and he laid his back flat against dripping tiles, while they were still under the shower head

It was a completely and utterly clumsy movement but none of them paid it much mind because the position they were in now had them closer to each other with almost the majority of Jems torso rubbing against Tessa's.

When they brushed up against each other it felt like a forest fire condensed into a second. The pleasure almost so overwhelming it was painful. Jem couldn't get enough.

He felt the need to enter her now and push into her long and lovingly but he knew of the risks and he wasn't willing to take them before checking that she was ready for him. Taking one of the hands that had wrapped further up her back, he slid it down and around her body, reaching the apex of her thighs.

His fingers slid down cupped her completely and upon his lips he could feel Tessas kissing slow down in its fervour, long breaths taking it's place as she was sure to be feeling heat and not just from the hot temperature of steam rising from the tiles as the shower seemed hotter than before.

Jem's long digits all started rubbing against her sex while his thumb held the front of her, pushing gently upon a place he knew to be her weakness, he had discovered it the first night they became one and he almost knew the effect would be instantaneous.

"_James_," the word was drawn out long and slow and smooth, almost the exact same way her body was moving in a wave movement against his, her hips trying to meet his and backing away as she sought to reach the epitome of pleasure from just the ministrations of his stimulating movements against her.

Knowing the emotions she sought could be heightened, his expressive fingers quickened their pace, making her long breaths shorten into gasps of pleasure as her nerves became bolts of electricity in her own mind. Jem listened to these sounds behind his closed eyelids and somehow his already quick movements became more energetic and coordinated.

He wasn't normally a tease, and Tessa's pleasure brought more than just his own, but he knew as Tessas sharp moans started cutting through his ears, that he should draw out her pleasure. And with knowing she was more than sufficiently lubricated, he stopped his movements and removed his hand completely for it to rest upon his own manhood.

At the loss of feeling, he heard her whimper and push further against him, seeming troubled by the loss. But the whimper stopped almost immediately as she felt him press against her entrance.

"Are you-"

"_Please_."

And as soon as the desperate tone escaped from her, he felt it match at his own trembling hands as she spread her legs further, crouching a tiny bit, before he moved himself slowly into her.

The water travelling down both their bodies seemed more than enough lubrication, but he knew her own insides were decadently coated in her own juices, as he felt her tighten around himself and he wondered how he ever ended up so blessed.

As Jem and Tessa became one, they both moaned each others name in complete synchronisation before he heard a giggle escape Tessa's lips and a big grin took over his. Opening eyes for one second, he saw her gaze meet his, open and loving and more than anything _trusting_. Her grey eyes had darkened like the stormy clouds over a raging sea, and he was sure the lust he felt for her had darkened his own.

They spent one more second looking each other, comprehending that this was real; That they were both lucky enough to be in this position; That they were here _together_, and in_ love_, with_ no_ boundaries, before taking a breath, closing their eyes as Jem pushed out of her and back in again, slowly, passionately and tantalisingly coy, before he pushed back in again as he once again filled her completely as if made for one another.

If they had been out of the shower, Jem would have been sweating, as he felt a hot flush rise down and up throughout of his bodies, as the two of them kissed and met with one another over, and over, and over.

It felt as if flames were licking up his body, making his heart pound repeatedly like a bird stuck in a cage with no hope of getting free. Long breaths of air did nothing to cure it and he didn't bring himself to care as they joined together so often.

The hands that had been wrapped around his own neck untangled themselves as they somehow found space between the nonexistence distance between them, and Tessas fingers roamed down his chest, feeling hard muscle meeting her senses, while Jem only felt more nerves being played with as his knees started to tremble.

Kisses got sloppier and movements turned jerky and clumsy, as the emotions that played upon them came and went in quick tides like a raging sea, and Jem felt stars before seeing them in the black that quickly transformed into brightness behind his eyelids.

Faintly he realised he'd been repeating Tessas name over and over- her full name, Theresa. The amount of letters in her name making his tongue have more work and something to focus on, but when you say a word so many times, over and over and over, it starts to lose its meaning and soon enough the only sense he could concentrate on was the rubbing of her walls against him, and her breasts pushing gently into his torso with hard peaks like blunt knives, feeling her teeth nibble upon his lower lip and suddenly as if all emotions came running, they somehow reached a finish line as everything got faster and quicker and hotter, and soon all he could feel was heat consuming him in the best way possible, and the swirls of colour behind his eyeballs became white as he reached his release, with his one and only partner not far behind.

In some alternate universe he was aware of both their trembling knees lowering them to the floor, slowly, and out of time. The opposite to the water that still seemed to rage against their bodies and the tiles.

He felt the cool ground before he registered it, against his backside, and the pressure released from his feet was immense, as the force of gravity seemed to let go of him, and his head lolled against the wall, breathing still uneven.

She knew he didn't mind (or couldn't understand yet) that she had laid herself almost across him, as her lap went between his opened legs, and one of her arms wrapped around his neck alike to an anchor before she lowered her head right upon his shoulder.

Together they found themselves, and together they came down from their high, and together their heart rates turned normal, and together they gently opened their eyes.

Meeting each others weary gaze, Jem felt a smile break over the lightened feeling that had consumed him, and he felt overjoyed to see Tessa's grin match entirely.

Tessa sighed happily and snuggled closer to him, as if they were in a bed and not in a large shower. Jem just chuckled, bringing his arms to wrap around her body, like a shield against the world.

And together they stayed, until the water turned cold.

At which point Jem muttered something about the use of saving water, to which Tessa blushed.


End file.
